


Punch in the Face

by oneatatime



Category: Choujin Sentai Jetman
Genre: Damaged People Being Damaged, Multi, au for the last episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 10:58:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19316800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneatatime/pseuds/oneatatime
Summary: "You ran with me not very long ago," Kaori said softly.





	Punch in the Face

**Author's Note:**

  * For [borrowedphrases](https://archiveofourown.org/users/borrowedphrases/gifts).



He collapsed slowly to the ground as pain seared through him from his centre. He hadn’t seen the knife. This would mess up the wedding. He felt vaguely guilty about that in a far off way, as his cheek came to a rest against the gravel of the road. 

Faintly, in the background. 

“Ryu, where are you?”

"Come on, everyone! It's time!"

“ _RYU!_ ”

Footsteps, running towards him. Oh, good. Someone would catch the thief.

* * * 

Gai swore under his breath, then swore again, more viciously, as he rolled Ryu over. There was blood all over his nice wedding suit. Kaori was a blur in the distance, heels having been flung off, as she rocketed after the attacker.

There were flowers. Red, and white. Trampled into the pavement, petals scattered everywhere. Wasn’t this just typical? Their lives were full of ridiculous symbolism.

He was lightheaded. Breathing too fast, probably, but who wouldn’t, with this? Ryu’s mouth was slack, his eyes closed, his head slumped to one side. His lips were beginning to go blue. Ako knelt down next to him, taking Ryu’s head into her lap. The Commander was around somewhere, too. He could hear her voice, tightly calm, as she told the arriving wedding guests to give them room.

Gai yanked Ryu’s bloody shirt up, and snarled at the sight of his stomach. Blood trickling from an ugly, ugly wound just below his navel, staining his shirt and his pants and now pooling on the gravel below him.

Gai placed both hands on the jagged slash, pushing firmly. Ryu gasped, without waking up, and Gai winced. 

“Your own damn fault,” he said jerkily. “No one but you would get stabbed on your own wedding day. What did that asshole want from you, anyway? You’ve never pissed anyone off in your life like I have. Well, apart from me. Shoulda been me-“

He nearly hit the hand on his shoulder, but it was Raita. “The ambulance is on its way.”

The ambulance took about a week to arrive, or more probably it was seven minutes like the Commander said. Not long after Kaori had handed over the attacker to the police. Seven minutes too long, of kneeling there holding his best friend’s life in his hands while Ako wept silently.

The paramedics transferred Ryu onto a stretcher, and hooked him up with an IV full of who knew what, efficiently and quickly. Gai still wanted to punch them both in the face for taking too damn long, but it would’ve taken too much effort, and poor Ako had tears running down her face. He didn’t want to make it worse for her. At least he hadn’t cried himself. He knew Ryu would be fine, after all. 

Kaori’s knuckles were scraped and raw, like at least she had managed to punch someone in the face. She looked both devastated and magnificent. Some warrior wife from an old movie, chasing down her husband’s killer and bringing him to justice. 

(Not killer. Ryu wasn’t dead. Yet.) 

The ambulance sped off. 

Kaori fell into his arms, sobbing like her heart was shattering, and he held onto her as best he could without touching her with his bloody hands.

* * *

Ryu was hooked up to a bag of saline solution on one side, and a bag of blood on the other, when they finally got to go in to see him. He had a private room, at least. The Jetman program came with its own dangers, but also its own privileges, and the Commander had always fought for them to have the best of what they could given what they went through day after day. 

Gai hung back, but Kaori couldn’t focus on him for the moment. She rushed to Ryu’s side, forcing herself to control at that point. She couldn’t throw herself on him. He still looked like hell. Pale, with purple shockflesh under his eyes… but the machine beeping next to him told her that his heart was beating, and he’d live. She permitted herself to take the limp hand resting on top of the pristine white covers.

While Kaori’s money could have paid for a butler service and a private nurse, she knew that what was here was more than enough for Ryu’s health and Ryu’s tastes. A small, comfortable room, with a window, and a door to a shared balcony. A television set. A stand next to the bed, with water, and magazines. All the usual medical paraphernalia. Blue plastic chairs, and one more comfortable armchair in a corner for when the patient was able to be mobile. It was enough.

Raita took off his glasses and wiped his eyes. Ako butted shoulders with him, then her arm snuck around his waist. Kaori wasn’t sure if it was for his comfort, or hers. Ako looked so much older with her hair long like that, and she'd fought to save the world just as hard as the rest of them, but she was still a (wonderful) child in many ways. 

When Ryu finally opened his eyes, the Commander stayed long enough to smile at him, and then she dragged Ako and Raita with her and left the room. Gai turned to follow, but the Commander shut the door in his face and Kaori grabbed his wrist. She knew she was small and ridiculous in her wedding dress, but she also was not about to be messed with. Not after the day she’d had. So Gai had better not do any messing, or she would – would kick his behind.

“What-?” Gai said, but there was a murmur from the bed, and both of their heads snapped around.

Kaori was glad. She didn’t need to have that conversation just now. She poured a glass of water on the little stand, and held it to his lips with a straw. Ryu blinked once, twice, then seemed to focus on her. His lips curved in a strained smile, and he managed to sip at the water.

“Oh, _Ryu_.”

* * *

It was a week before he was allowed to come home. It wasn’t quite the triumphant return to his house that had been planned for after the wedding. No Kaori in his arms, ready to take up residence with him as wife and husband. No, she’d stayed in her own place for the last week, while they’d hurriedly rebooked everything.

But her touch was still everywhere, Ryu thought with satisfaction. All the little things they’d bought together. His house had been quite bare before, but now there were pretty little throws over the couches, and paintings on some of the walls. Kaori had even added pink accents to the boring white bathroom. They’d decorated other rooms together. One room in particular.

It wasn’t much of a party, but it was good, and heartfelt. Ryu sat on the couch and made terrible jokes like 'knife to see you all here today', and breathed lightly enough that the pain wasn’t overwhelming. Ako ate far too much bean dip. Raita danced with the Commander. Now and then Gai sat with him, and they leaned against each other, just a little. He liked the way Kaori’s eyes softened when she saw that.

When everyone else left, it was just the three of them. Nearly just the two of them, but Gai had almost bumped his nose as the Commander had shut the door in his face. “Not again,” he muttered, for some reason.

Ryu grinned, wondering at that. He worked his way to his feet, with the aid of a small White Swan who appeared unexpectedly under his shoulder.

“Say, Gai?"

“Mm? I should be going. It’s late.”

Ryu fought for a casual tone, and felt Kaori tense against his side. It was a good tension; at least he knew that for sure. They’d talked about it too often for him not to be confident about her stance on this. “You can sleep here, if you want. As long as you want. Weeks. Months. Years, even.”

Gai turned, fingers twitching, shoulders locked in position. Obviously desperate for a nerves-calming smoke, but just as obviously not allowing himself to do that inside. Good. “Eh? I’m sticking around until you two finally get married without anyone almost dying, and then I’m taking off for a while. You know that.”

“Yes,” Kaori piped up, small and nervous and very strong. Ryu loved her so much. “But you don’t have to. I’m sleeping here tonight, and you can, too. Because. . .”

“Because we want you here,” Ryu completed softly. “Permanently. If you’ll have us.” 

Gai looked from Ryu to Kaori, then back again. 

“. . .bullshit.”

Kaori laughed. “No, nothing like that.”

"There's no excrement involved at all." Ryu squeezed Kaori gently, then walked forward to Gai. His stomach throbbed and he half wanted to throw up, but there was no way he was going to flag. Not here, not now. He took Gai by the hand, drawing him back into the centre of the living room. “Gai. Kaori knows I’m in love with you. And she’s okay with it.”

And hadn’t that conversation been a punch in the stomach. He still marvelled at it, at how wonderful she was. She’d made it very clear that he’d better keep being good to her. . . but he was allowed to be good to Gai, too. 

“You’re _what?_ ”

Ryu said lightly, “In fact, she told me that if I upset you, I have to answer to her. So, if you want to be here. Then you’re welcome.”

Kaori came up behind him, her hand on Gai’s back. Placing him in between them. Her hair was tied back today. Making her look young, but nothing could make her look anything less than determined. “We knew that we’d have to ambush you, or you’d just run.”

And that had been the subject of multiple conversations. How best to do it. How to set up the house. Whether they were being fair to him by not giving him much choice. (The answer had been yes, of course. Because Gai was very bad at doing things for himself these days, and if he really, really hated it, he could technically leave any time.)

* * *

Gai was tempted to ask if they’d both been smoking a bunch of drugs, but he was the only smoker in the room, Kaori hadn’t had any alcohol that he’d seen, and Ryu didn’t do anything harder than milk. Possibly yoghurt, if he was feeling fancy.

"I don't run," he said flatly, more because he didn't want it to be true than because he actually disagreed with it. Kaori shook her head, and Ryu actually - Ryu actually lifted a hand to cup his cheek.

 _Bastard._

He was sandwiched in between the two of them. Both of them touching him, both of them within only a few inches of him. It was terrifying. It was wonderful. There were little shocks running up and down his spine, like he was about to be attacked. 

"You ran with me not very long ago," Kaori said softly. "Things are different now. We can try again. You and I can be. . . well, we can talk about that. But first I want you and Ryu."

Gai swallowed, hard. "When I care about people, they get hurt."

It was supposed to come out strongly. He was tough, after all. He'd been through hell in this last year. Same as all of them. Except it came out in a hushed, small voice, wavering at the end.

Ryu looked down at Gai's hand, splayed across his own stomach. 

"Oh, Gai," he said affectionately. There was a depth of warmth in Ryu's eyes that was utterly appalling. How dare he. How dare Kaori be so understanding and kind. How dare Ryu -

How dare Ryu step into him, with a hand at the nape of his neck, thumb caressing his hairline. How dare Ryu brush his lips across Gai's. 

Gai whited out for a moment, and when he came back to himself he was clinging to both of them, face pressed against Ryu's shoulder. Hell. _Hell._

"Tonight," he choked out, and he knew that wasn't an answer forever. It was an answer for tonight, and that would do. 

(The rest of the answer was the tears soaking the side of Ryu's neck. And wasn't that a punch in the face? But he didn't have to deal with that just now.)


End file.
